RIP Charlie Kirk

[Elkmagnet]

The line between normal entertainment and politics is so blurry now I don't know where we go.

I feel like I'm watching professional wrestling. Every news cycle brings another tragic twist.
I can't recognize this country and its people. The things the US population are willing to overlook for "their side" to win is deplorable to me.

 

[jabber]

I came across this on facebook. I am pretty good friends with the young man that wrote this. I thought it is worth sharing. It is long, so if you don't have the time or patience just scroll on.

This is gonna be a long post. Sorry in advance. I only ask that if you choose to respond, please read the whole thing.
Yesterday, my day really got started when one of my closest friends FaceTimed me. She showed me how she was practicing with her newborn baby on tracking things with his eyes. I got to watch him and listen to the pride in her voice as she talked about him. It was so touching and only deepened my excitement to be a dad one day, whenever that day comes.

Less than an hour after hanging up, I saw a video of a man getting shot in the neck in front of a crowd. Then I saw a close-up view of that same scene. I watched as the shot rang out. I heard the immediate but distinctly separate second 𝘵𝘩𝘸𝘢𝘱 that any hunter knows means the shot connected. I watched the blood spurt out of his neck in vintage Tarantino fashion, spurting out until gravity could take over and bring it splatting to the ground. I watched him reach for his neck but not be able to make it before his body began shutting down, spasming, doing everything it could to cling to life. I closed that video knowing that despite reports he was still alive and fighting, he was dead.

Raised in the age of the internet, with immediate access and insight to all the world's tragedies as they unfold, much the same as many of you who will read this, I have become a bit desensitized to this type of gore. Unlike any generation before, but like every generation to come in the future, we see live footage of death, destruction, dismemberment that humans evolved to rarely see in their entire lives, if ever. For all of human history, the majority of people would never know that this type of stuff happened, and if they did learn of it, it would've been via word of mouth or in the newspaper. They wouldn't have seen it as if they were in the presence of the event, much less the presence of 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 event. But we have the unrequested "privilege" of seeing all of this, all the time, so we see an assassination, a school shooting, a children's hospital bombed and turned to rubble, and we go on about our day. We think about how sad it is and we move on - what else are we to do?

So, I moved on.

And then I saw a video of this man's young daughter gleefully yelling for her daddy, running across a stage in a studio after he finished some spot for TV, and being wrapped up in his arms. I saw the joy in her body language as she ran to see her dad, her protector, her role model. And I began to think about my own life, how it was to grow up without a mom. She died when I was 14, but between addiction, a cancer battle, and her subsequent death, I really lost my mom when I was 11 years old. It was a slow burn and I was prepared for her death - at least as prepared as you can possibly be for something like that as a child. We knew for years what the likely outcome would be, and for the last few months, we had a pretty good idea of when it would happen. We could just about tell you exactly what day it would happen, even from a couple of months out - and we even suspected upon waking the day it finally happened that it was going to be that day.

I've never shared this publicly, but let's go ahead and get vulnerable. I talked to her that day. I told her how much I loved her, how everybody who needed to see her before she left us had come, and that if she didn't want to, she didn't need to fight any longer. She wasn't able to respond, but I know in my heart she heard me, and I know that she understood there was nothing left to do, she'd done everything she could, but the cancer was stronger. And she let go, dying later that evening.
And despite all of that foresight, all of that preparation, growing up without a mom was so $*)Q!#@$ hard. An indescribable heartache to which only those who've experienced it can relate.

And then I thought of that 3-year-old girl, because she may not fully understand it yet, but not only can she relate to that pain, she is—and will continue to be—experiencing it on a far greater scale than I ever had to deal with. And she got no time to prepare. He was there one day and gone the next, forever.

She didn't get to tell him how much she loved him. She didn't get to say goodbye. She didn't get to have her closest friends and family come alongside her and share their love with her dad. She didn't get to tell him, "it's okay to let go, I love you and always will."

She never gets to run across a stage and be swept up into her daddy's arms again. She won't get to celebrate her first hit in tee-ball with him. He'll never take her to a daddy-daughter dance. He won't be there when she graduates high school or college. He won't walk her down the aisle on her wedding day or dance with her at the ceremony.

One day that little girl is going to watch those videos I watched yesterday. She'll learn about her dad through the internet and stories her mom, family, and friends tell her. But she will never know her dad. Just as you and I never knew, will never know, her dad. After she watches those videos, she's going to see celebration in the comments. When she Googles her dad, she'll see elation about his assassination. She'll see justifications and praise for her father's killer, citing his beliefs and his words in support of his beliefs. He was divisive, so he had it coming. That's what she'll see from the masses.

And my heart breaks for that little girl. I feel helpless, confused, angry, and scared. I'm devastated for a wife and two children who lost such an important figure in their lives, who will no longer receive the love and affection every child and every wife deserves and 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 to receive from their father. I'm sad for the 1-year-old boy who will never even meet his dad, who will not have the faintest memory of him.

I'm also sad today for myself and what I went through. I'm sad for the brown kids in the Middle East for whose deaths my country is directly and indirectly responsible - for whose deaths 𝘐'𝘮 indirectly responsible. I'm sad for the trans kid who gets bullied at school and kills themselves because of it, and for the children in a private Christian school killed by a trans kid who believes those deaths justified because of the persecution they received and perceived at the hands of people of faith. I'm sad for the immigrant woman in Charlotte indiscriminately killed for being in the wrong seat on the train at the wrong time, and I'm sad for—and angry at—the man whose mental health was so damaged that he felt the need to kill a random woman by stabbing her in the neck in public. And I'm sad for—and disappointed in—the bystanders on that train who did nothing to help her, who just let her bleed in fear of the same thing happening to them.

I'm sad for the people celebrating this death. I'm sad that, whatever the circumstances, they believe people deserve to die for their beliefs. I'm sad they feel persecuted to the extent that blood shed by their enemies is a step in the right direction - and I'm scared of that destination, and how many steps in that direction are needed before we collectively arrive there.

Mostly, I'm scared and sad at the thought of raising a future child in such a dangerous and divisive world, where countrymen and politicians advocate and pursue the deaths of their political enemies, and then those deaths are celebrated. A world where a toddler losers her dad because her dad said things people didn't like.

And I'm sad that the next morning, this morning, I woke up on the 24-year anniversary of something similar happening to hundreds, maybe thousands, of children whose parents innocently went to work and never came home.

I don't understand how anybody could be happy after watching that video, but I'm here to hear you out and love you all the same. And I'm truly, genuinely, sorry for whatever has happened in your lives that led you to that conclusion.

Have to go to second post as it is over the 10000 character limit.

 

[jabber]

Part 2

Anybody who's followed me on social media in recent years knows I'm staunchly anti-government. That includes Charlie Kirk's and Donald Trump's Republican party. Most people who knew me growing up will 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 know that I grew up a devout Republican, up to, and mostly through, college, before I began to see the State as the insidious, fraudulent operation it is. I have an old T-shirt in my closet that was purchased back then, more than a decade ago, from Charlie Kirk's company. He was just getting started and I had no idea at the time that he would become so well known across the country, nor that his beliefs and brand of debate would become a source of so much anger that someone would permanently silence him for it. I just liked the message on the shirt.
I bought it for the merits of its argument, not for its designer, founder, or the people who inspired it.

In my ideal world, we bring our disagreements to the table and debate their merits, and we walk away arm-in-arm knowing that despite our disagreements, despite the color of our skin or where we come from, we are both just trying to live our lives the best we can and want to get home to our families each night.

I'm not sure that ideal world can or ever will happen. And I'll continue to be sad and disappointed each time someone tries to drive another wedge and push us further away from this idealistic world, from each other.

But at the same time, I'll continue to be hopeful that we can one day bridge that gap and come together not as political opponents, but people with different beliefs who love each other and value each other's lives - not because we have done something to 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 that love, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩, 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨, 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧.

As always, there's a brand new Jesse Welles song for this that I want to share. In this song, he sings, "you can't hate the gun and love the gun that shot your rival." I hope, if you take nothing else from this long, meandering soliloquy, that you can at least receive that simple message.

And no matter how you feel, whether you loved Charlie Kirk or despised him, whether you cried when you saw the video or punched a hole in the wall or cracked open a cold one in celebration, if you need someone to talk to, I'm here.

 

[Irrelevant]

I'm not talking about the act. What seems new, to me in my 40+ years here, is the naked and widespread celebration of many Americans in regard to the death of their fellow Americans who are political enemies. For most of my life, that would've been far too taboo and regarded as fringe compared to the level I see today.

In that sense, I would agree that public celebration seems new, but mostly because everyone can make public comments. A 30 sec google (or chat) review will point out that plenty of individuals and groups celebrated every assassination of a political rival in history. More in the vain you're pointing to, is that our leaders and our media, no longer hold themselves to a higher standard. They will do whatever it takes to get elected, re-elected, or clicks, including inciting violence against fellow Americans. That feels distinctly different.

 

[Elky Welky]

Laws, the constitution - I don't think they are enough to hold us together

To expound on this: the norms you mention here are reflected in our laws and constitution, not the other way around. Laws and the constitution, common law precedent, etc. are all simply the norms we all agreed upon as a society and then wrote down.

For example, one of the oldest rules of our species, the one violated so horrifically here, is that murder is wrong. We don’t need statutes or biblical commandments to codify that fact, but we do have them written down anyways.

So ultimately I agree, the social contract that binds us all together must stand stronger than our laws and constitution. When Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, he started it with “we hold these truths to be self-evident,” which was really just a fancy way of saying: “everything I’m about to say is already obvious.”

What seems scariest about the current moment is that, due to fractured media, partisan echo chambers, “alternative facts,” distrust in expertise, tribalism, etc. we simply can’t all agree on what’s obvious anymore.

 

[dgc1963]

I saw the video wish I didn't so very sad that we have come to a place that someone is murdered for talking and debating Ideas
Free speech is only real when you defend someone's right to say something you oppose to your very core. And the blackness in someone's soul to celebrate this act of cowardice ! Now 2 small children grow up without a father

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

I saw the video wish I didn't so very sad that we have come to a place that someone is murdered for talking and debating Ideas
Free speech is only real when you defend someone's right to say something you oppose to your very core. And the blackness in someone's soul to celebrate this act of cowardice ! Now 2 small children grow up without a father

 

[cgasner1]

One thing this event did - it immediately sorted people who have taken their politics and anger to unhealthy levels. I dont have much interest in conversing with someone who sees "irony" in his pro 2a stance, or who implies he "had it coming", or whatever else. Frankly, i dont even want to be fellow citizens with someone who thinks like that.

When people tell you who they are - you have to listen.

For good news - corporate at msnbc decided to take some trash out.

MSNBC fires analyst Matthew Dowd over Charlie Kirk shooting remarks

Dowd said the slain activist’s words may have fueled the violence that claimed his life, sparking backlash

www.theguardian.com

Country is definitely at a turning point. They are calling for Chris Pratt to be fired from marvel over his comments. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. This seems like it just put marvel in a no win situation.

 

[atlas]

Looks like it was a 22 year old guy named Tyler Robinson from St George Utah

 

[Mallardsx2]

 

[Gulf of America]

Just gonna say the FBI director's handling of this manhunt was an embarrassment. Despite the live-tweeting, this guy would still be at-large if his father turned him in after he confessed to him.

 

[Redmt]

Wow I'm impressed with everyone. 8 pages and it's not locked. I guess a highly controversial subject can be discussed without a separate online war starting.
I haven't seen the news today. Did they catch the shooter?

 

[Oak]

Wow I'm impressed with everyone. 8 pages and it's not locked. I guess a highly controversial subject can be discussed without a separate online war starting.
I haven't seen the news today. Did they catch the shooter?

The shooter confessed to his father, who turned him in.

 

[Redmt]

The shooter confessed to his father, who turned him in.

That must have been a traumatic experience for his father. I couldn't imagine being in his position. I've covered my son's ass a bunch of times but nothing like that. How very sad for both families.

 

[Lostinthewoods]

Probably a dumb question, but would the father get the $100K for the information leading to his son’s arrest?

 

[elkantlers]

 

[Redmt]

Probably a dumb question, but would the father get the $100K for the information leading to his son’s arrest?

Or would the kid get it for confessing to the father? Maybe they will split it?

 

[Straight Arrow]

Eventually then a defense lawyer will get it ... and he'll earn it!

 

[Stocker]

2 lives thrown away, and a family shattered over a political disagreement. People need to get a grip on reality

 

[Redmt]

Eventually then a defense lawyer will get it ... and he'll earn it!

Defense?